LIHUE — The U.S. Navy will be hosting a meeting/open house on Tuesday from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Kauai Veterans Center located on Veterans Memorial Highway adjacent to the Vidinha Stadium.
The meeting is an opportunity for the public to provide “substantive comments on the accuracy and adequacy of the environmental impact analysis” as well as learn more about the Pacific Missile Range Facility Land-Based Training and Testing Draft Environmental Assessment.
The public can download the Draft Environmental Assessment through the website https://tgilinks.com/4e0X7cf. Printed copies of the Draft E.A. are also available at the Waimea, or Lihue public libraries.
The open house will feature informational poster stations on the proposed training and testing and an opportunity for the public to meet the project team and ask questions about the proposal.
The Navy will also provide a short presentation about the project from 5 to 5:30 p.m.
Public involvement is an important part of the National Environmental Policy Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act Section 106 processes.
“We encourage you to submit a comment on the draft E.A., or if you have information or concerns about historic properties,” PMRF said in the meeting announcement. “Comments may be submitted at the open house, by visiting the website or by email at PMRF.LBT.EA.Comments@u.s.navy.mil.
Comments can also be submitted through postal mail at Naval Facilities Engineering Systems, Command Pacific/EV22, Attention: PMRF LBT EA Project Manager, 258 Makalapa Drive, Suite 100, Pearl Harbor, HI 96860.
Comments must be postmarked, or received electronically by 11:59 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time on Sept. 30, 2024 for consideration in the development of the Final Environmental Assessment.
The Proposed Action is to conduct an increased number of land-based, multi-domain training and testing activities within the Study Area. These activities would be conducted by the Navy, Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Missile Defense Agency and may also include the participation of foreign militaries under U.S. sponsorship and oversight. The Proposed Action also includes standard operating procedures to avoid or minimize potential impacts on environmental and cultural resources.
No new types of training or testing activities are proposed at PMRF or Kaula Island; the activities proposed are currently being, or have previously been, conducted at these locations and are similar to those analyzed in previous environmental documents. Training and testing activities conducted at sea and the in-water effects of land-based activities (e.g., land-based missile launch) were previously analyzed in the 2018 Hawaii-Southern California Training and Testing Environmental Impact Statement/Overseas Environmental Impact Statement.
The purpose of the Proposed Action is to provide the U.S. military services and MDA with land-based training and testing activities at a level that supports military readiness into the reasonably foreseeable future. The Proposed Action is needed to ensure U.S. military services are able to organize, train, and equip service members and personnel to meet their respective national defense missions.
